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Shiva, also known as Mahadeva, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism.
Tantra are the esoteric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism that developed in India from the middle of the 1st millennium CE onwards. The term tantra, in the Indian traditions, also means any systematic broadly applicable "text, theory, system, method, instrument, technique or practice". A key feature of these traditions is the use of mantras, and thus they are commonly referred to as Mantramārga in Hinduism or Mantrayāna and Guhyamantra in Buddhism.
A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions. The feminine form, sometimes used in English, is yogini.
Shaivism is one of the major Hindu traditions that worships Shiva, also called Rudra, as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions ranging from devotional dualistic theism such as Shaiva Siddhanta to yoga-oriented monistic non-theism such as Kashmiri Shaivism. It considers both the Vedas and the Agama texts as important sources of theology.
Haṭha yoga is a branch of yoga. The Sanskrit word हठ haṭha literally means "force" and thus alludes to a system of physical techniques.
Tantric sex or sexual yoga refers to a wide range of practices carried on in Hindu and Buddhist tantra to exercise sexuality in a ritualized or yogic context, often associated with antinomian or impure elements, like consumption of alcohol, and offerings of impure substances like meat to fierce deities. In particular, sexual fluids have been viewed as "power substances" and used ritualistically, either externally or internally.
Hindu texts are manuscripts and voluminous historical literature which are related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. A few of these texts are shared across these traditions and they are broadly considered Hindu scriptures. These include the Puranas, Itihasa and Vedas. Scholars hesitate in defining the term "Hindu scriptures" given the diverse nature of Hinduism, but many list the Bhagavad Gita and the Agamas as Hindu scriptures, and Dominic Goodall includes Bhagavata Purana and Yajnavalkya Smriti in the list of Hindu scriptures as well.
Shaktism is one of several major Hindu denominations, wherein the metaphysical reality is considered metaphorically a woman and Shakti (Mahadevi) is regarded as the supreme godhead. It includes many goddesses, all considered aspects of the same supreme goddess. Shaktism has different sub-traditions, ranging from those focused on gracious Parvati to that of fierce Kali.
Nath, also called Natha, are a Shaiva sub-tradition within Hinduism in India and Nepal. A medieval movement, it combined ideas from Buddhism, Shaivism and Yoga traditions in India. The Naths have been a confederation of devotees who consider Shiva, as their first lord or guru, with varying lists of additional gurus. Of these, the 9th or 10th century Matsyendranath and the ideas and organization mainly developed by Gorakhnath are particularly important. Gorakhnath is considered the originator of the Nath Panth.
The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, founded in 1997, is a Recognised Independent Centre of the University of Oxford, England. It develops academic programmes of education, research and publishing in Hindu studies. It aims to encourage the Hindu community in the academic study of their own traditions and cultures.
Swami Janakananda Saraswati is a tantric yoga and meditation teacher and a writer, who has had a significant influence in the dissemination of yoga and meditation in Scandinavia and Northern Europe. He is the oldest active sannyasin disciple of Satyananda Saraswati in Europe.
Vimalaprabhā is a Sanskrit word that means "The Radiance of Purity", or 'Dri-med ‘od' in Tibetan. This 11th-century Tibetan Buddhist text is a commentary to the Kālacakra Tantra. The Vimalaprabhā is attributed to Shambhala King Pundarika. It is composed in Sanskrit and consists of 12,000 lines of text. Manuscripts of the work have survived in the libraries of Tibetan monasteries and Indian libraries.
Eckhard Bick is a German-born Esperantist who studied medicine in Bonn but now works as a researcher in computational linguistics. He was active in an Esperanto youth group in Bonn and in the Germana Esperanto-Junularo, a nationwide Esperanto youth federation. Since his marriage to a Danish woman he and his family live in Denmark.
Hindu denominations are traditions within Hinduism centered on one or more gods or goddesses, such as Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti and Brahma. Sometimes the term is used for sampradayas led by a particular guru with a particular philosophy.
Sir James Mallinson, 5th Baronet of Walthamstow is a British Indologist, writer and translator. He is recognised as one of the western world's leading experts on the history of medieval Hatha Yoga.
The Goraksha Śataka is an early hatha yoga text, written in around the 10th century in the tantra tradition.
The Vivekamārtaṇḍa is an early Hatha yoga text, the first to combine tantric and ascetic yoga. Attributed to Goraksha, it was probably written in the 13th century. It emphasises mudras as the most important practice. The name means "Sun of Discernment". It teaches khecarīmudrā, mahāmudrā, viparītakaraṇī and the three bandhas. It teaches six chakras and the raising of Kundalinī by means of "fire yoga" (vahniyogena).
The Dattātreyayogaśāstra, a Vaisnava text probably composed in the 13th century CE, is the earliest text which provides a systematized form of Haṭha yoga under that name, and the earliest to place its yoga techniques under the name Haṭha.
The Yogabīja is an early Haṭha yoga text, from around the 14th century. It was the first text to propose the derivation of haṭha from the Sanskrit words for sun and moon, with multiple esoteric interpretations.
The Khecarīvidyā, an early tantric text on Hatha yoga written around the 14th century, teaches only khecarīmudrā, one of several yogic seals or mudras, and is a major source for that method. This was meant to give the yogin access to stores of amrita in the body, and to raise Kundalinī via the six chakras.
References
- ↑ Dr Bjarne Wernicke-Olesen | The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
- ↑ Dr Bjarne Wernicke-Olesen Theology Department, Oxford University
- ↑ Śākta Traditions
- ↑ Bjarne Wernicke Olesen - Forskning - Aarhus Universitet
- ↑ Bjarne Wernicke Olesen - Forskningsprojekter - Forskning - Aarhus Universitet
- ↑ Bjarne Wernicke Olesen - Aktiviteter - Forskning - Aarhus Universitet
- ↑ Forfatter beskrivelse: Bjarne Wernicke Olesen
- ↑ Gudernes sprog. Klassisk sanskrit på dansk | Forlaget Univers
